Building a successful blog in a particular niche takes focus and dedication – without knowing if the pay-off will be worth the effort. Virtually every blogger has the possibility and skills to create content that finds its way into the mailboxes and onto the screens of thousands or millions of readers, but only a select few have understanding of the nuances that facilitate this. Even fewer have developed blogs and platforms from which any post they publish will automatically receive this treatment. For the budding blogger or writer, using certain tactics will increase the chances that your posts become viral – we will outline below five specific steps you can take to achieve this effect.

Point Out and Solve Problems

If your posts casually mention an issue or event but do not illustrate potential areas for improvement or solutions to those woes, then the average reader will find far less value in their content. Sharing and exposure are driven by popularity and the ability of content to address problems. If you are in the unique position of being able to offer sage advice on a particular topic, then pursue this route. Even if you are not, outlining problems can be equally as effective in encouraging viral distribution.

Cite Your Claims

While pinging search engines with less than accurate claims will not result in any penalties vis a vis SEO, it certainly will not help your posts achieve hundreds of thousands of page views nor earn the trust of your audience. Posts that revolve around a particular study, for instance, should have a visible link to the study in question. Likewise, information gathered from an infographic should be incorporated into said post with due credit provided.

Know Your Audience

Are you catering to a predominantly male or female audience? Are a bulk of your readers Millenials or Baby Boomers? Do you even know? Understanding audiences and subsequently creating content that is appropriate is one of the biggest areas in which blogs fail. There are a variety of analytics tools available that can help you determine your audience – pinging search engines like Google for their free analytics platforms is one popular method. After you have this information in hand, market research can be conducted to determine a viable content strategy.

Don’t Expect Links

If you produce great content and are noticed by other blogs, then links to your content will naturally follow. If you write paragraph after paragraph of lacklustre content, however, readers and bloggers alike will not feel compelled to share it. All too many bloggers focus solely on obtaining links to their content when that time could be spent producing higher quality posts. If you want massive exposure, then you must apply your efforts toward the creation of the content and not its immediate distribution.

Conclusion

In the beginning, it will be difficult to drive any relatively large amount of traffic to a blog or website. In understanding this, there is a silver lining: you can spend more time focusing on creating the foundation of quality content rather than trying to market a barely informative website. By knowing your audience, citing your claims, being a problem solver and aiming for quality over quantity, you will build an environment that is conducive for massive growth in the future.